"Well, I thought the whole standing close and saying you wanted to kiss me was pretty hot."
"And then I totally kissed you without consent!" he shot back.
"Hawke, when I grab you by the shirt and shove my tongue down your throat, that's consent!"
"Yeah, but it didn't start that way. And I'm..." He sighed. "Rain, I'm shit at this. The only reason Wilder and I ended up together was because I made Torian leave him alone. He appreciated it, so we got talking, and thenhemade a move. Otherwise, I would've thought we were just friends."
"Ok?"
"See, I kind of said he was hot in the middle of yelling at Torian, and Wilder heard, and he made the move. I just..." He ducked his head to shove his fingers into that warm brown hair. "We're all tired of having things taken from us, Rain. Doesn't matter if that's friends being hauled off by the Hunt, or traditions being fucked up by faelings. The Queen took our homes and our lives. The Summer groupies are taking everything we held dear, and so to take your consent like that? It's... It's really not ok. So yeah, maybe it's my best move, but it's pretty shitty."
"I like this one too," I told him. "The one where you skip class to make sure I'm not alone."
"Yeah?"
I nodded. "It's the sort of thing a friend would do."
"The Keir kind of friend, or the Torian kind?"
"The Keir and Aspen kind."
A little shy smile took over his mouth. "Ok. Noted. So, um, maybe tomorrow I can take you on a walk? You know, since you'll be allowed to do such taxing things?"
"And if I get all faint and pass out again?" I asked, knowing damned well I wouldn't.
Hawke lifted his eyes and met mine. "I'd carry you back, of course."
"Rain..." Jack did his best to whisper.
"Not now, bird," I told him. "I'm getting hit on."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jack nodding emphatically, but Hawke? He just smiled. Yes, there was a little pink on his face too. It looked really good on him.
And this whole fae romance thing? I could get used to it. Not just all the options - because while that was nice, it was also a bit intimidating. No, my favorite part was how the fae didn't rush things. Friends first actually seemed to mean something to them.
And that meanteverythingto me.
Chapter Sixty-Five
RAIN
On Saturday, I did get to go on a walk with Hawke. Jack came too, but when I invited Aspen to join us, she said she had to help Torian. I may have complained to poor Hawke the whole time, because we'd already done this once before.
It felt like the closer I got to Aspen, the more Torian tried to pull her away from me. The happier I was with Keir, the more grumpy Torian got. And no, I didn't think this was a me thing. The guy had already said he thought I made the right choice. Sure, he might think he deserved to get with every girl in the world - and thus me as well - but I was pretty sure he didn't evenlikeme.
The problem was how his sister had gotten caught in the middle. And yet, when I told Keir about Hawke not-so-subtly slipping his hand into mine to hold it while we walked? Keir was amazing. He laughed about it with me, agreed Hawke had a certain appeal that was impossible to put into words, and laughed off the idea of him and Wilder hooking up. Not in a "won't ever happen" way, but more an embarrassed to talk about it sort of thing.
Then on Monday, I got to do a whole lot of picking on my guys. We were laughing hard enough my zez had to call us out in Defensive Combat. Then, for my detention hour, Bracken decided to stick his nose all up in our business. His excuse was making the three of us come at him - while heasked awkward and slightly invasive questions. Thankfully, he also let us get out of them with some lame-ass excuses.
The problem was when I headed back to my room afterwards. The moment I stepped off the elevator, I could hear the yelling. Not the words exactly, but I could distinguish Aspen and Torian's voices. Jack clicked in disapproval from my shoulder, but when I went to unlock my door, he fell silent. Opening that, I was hit with a debate very much in progress.
"I don't care if it's burning lust or true love!" Torian was saying. "Thathumanis not the main character! You are, Aspen!"
"I am not!" Aspen shot back. "Fuck, Tor. Has it ever dawned on you that I didn't ask for any of this? Fuck you and your problems. For the first time in my life, I'm happy. Not ok, or content, or just struggling to get by. I'm fucking happy, andsheis why!"
"And she doesn't even know you!" Torian snapped. "How fast do you think she'll run when she figures it out?"
"As fast as she did when she heard you're a jevadu! Rain doesn't care about the shit from Faerie. She cares about us, ok? Me, and Keir, and Hawke. Wilder even! You're just pissed because she doesn't worship the ground you walk on, but you know what? She shouldn't!"
